Not Your Mom's Zombies

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter is the first of her White Rabbit Chronicles.

Monsters are real, too bad for Alice Bell that she never believed until her whole family was dead.  She always thought her dad was just paranoid.  Her whole world has crumbled and she would give anything to go back to the way it was, to tell her dad she believes, tell her mother she loves her, and to hug her sister again.

Now she has moved in with her grandparents, and started a new school, and dealing with the fact that the monster really do exist. At school, she is drawn to bad boy Cole Holland.  When their eyes meet, she is drawn into strange visions with him.  His gruff bad boy demeanor is hiding a secret, and Alice is sure he knows about the monster.

With Cole's help, Alice learns how to fight the monster, who he calls Zombies.  Together they try to solve why the Zombies are so drawn to Alice.

I liked this spin on Zombies.  They were not the traditional flesh eating, brains zombies.  Rather they are beings of the spirit world who feed on human spirits.  The only way to fight them is in the spirit.  Not everyone can see them, but for those that can the zombies are drawn to them.  I thought the idea was fresh, but still was true to the heart of the idea of zombies.

I really enjoyed the character of Alice.  She is feisty, and holds her own against uber bad boy Cole. I like that she can throw Cole off balance when he is so used to being in control.  She finds good things to enjoy, like her friends, even after she thought her world had ended.

Her best friend, Kat, was fantastic.  She is funny and loyal to Alice even when it cost her social status. She keeps a bright outlook on life, which is amazing after you learn what all she is dealing with personally.  She is one of my favorite sidekicks.

Cole has the quite the bad boy image, right down to the tattoos, but there are times when his softer side shines through.  When that happens, I like him the best.  The dynamic between him and Alice is great, and their banter is highly entertaining.

It will definitely be interesting to see where Ms. Showalter takes this series. There a few hints she drops that could bring about some interesting developments and relationships in future books.

Currently Reading:
Siege and Storm
by Leigh Bardugo